Unpleasant Truths
by Sacmis
Summary: Kunit visit Fox after his mission is Australia and the conversation turns to a certain blonde boy they all know.


Heeey! So I thought I'd do a oneshot with a kunit but mainly Fox centric, seeing as I'm really fond of them.

Disclaimer:Sadly, Alex Rider isn't mine

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'Weren't those grapes meant to be for me?' Ben Daniels asked, raising his eyebrows amusedly at the men standing in his doorway. Eagle had the grace to look down and blush.

'Yeah well, I got hungry on the way,' he whined. 'And besides you're recovering from an injury not an illness, so I'm guessing grapes are the wrong sentiment anyways.' Snake rolled his eyes and lightly hit him on the head with practiced ease.

'You going to let us in or what?' he asked impatiently. 'Only I'd love to have a look at that bullet wound of yours.'

'Yeah lets. I don't want to be stuck out here when it starts pouring down,' Wolf grumbled standing in front of the other two. Ben grinned to himself as he realized that even in civilian life, Wolf exuberated the commanding presence and stance of a leader. He gestured them in with a wide arm movement and cringed slightly at the small twinge of pain that shot up his arm. Snake ever the observant medic, glanced worriedly at him.

'I'm fine,' Ben sighed. God he hated being fussed over. 'Do you want anything to drink?' he asked as they threw themselves down on his sofa.

'A beer.'

'A coke.'

'Some water's fine.'

Ben gave an exaggerated sigh. 'What am I going to do with you three?' he asked eyes twinkling in amusement but headed off towards the fridge.

'You know you love us really,' Eagle laughed.' I bet getting drinks for us, is the most you're sister's let you do since you got back. And you just looove being fussed over,' he added sarcastically while the other two just sniggered. Ben shook his head slightly at them as he set the tray of drinks on the coffee table. He sat himself down on the comfy armchair next to the sofa and murmured, 'You know me too well. I appreciate Sarah's worried and that but she fusses over me even more than mum! It took me a solid hour to convince them that checking up on me every 2 days is enough and that no, they don't have to move right in.' The men sniggered again but this time it was more subdued. Something was off-they could sense it.

'What's wrong Ben?' Wolf asked seriously. 'Normally you're all over your family when your home. You spend every waking hour with them. What's up this time?' Ben's face closed up.

'I-I-'he stuttered not sure how to explain to them that what he really wanted, was to be left alone; To have time to reflect on the differences between SAS and MI6. Between working on your own and working as a group. And what type of morals his employers had-the very same ones that would send a mere 14 year old boy on a life threatening mission time and time again.

Snake realizing that Ben wasn't ready to talk just yet gave him an out. 'I want to see that bullet wound of yours.' Ben realizing what he was doing, shot him a grateful glance before stripping off his T-shirt and holding out his arm to Snake.

Snake examined it closely, with a keen medical interest, whereas the others just looked to see how big his scar was.

'Hmmm. Seems to be healing nicely. You going to P.T and taking your meds?' Snake asked sharply. Ben fought the urge to roll his eyes. 'Yeah, yeah.' Just as he was pulling his T-shirt over his head, Eagle asked, 'Hey Ben, how'd you get that scar?'

'Someone shot a gun and the bullet pierced itself in my flesh,' he answered straight faced. Eagle dodged Wolf's hand that was about to hit his head and answered, 'Ha. Ha. I know that. I meant how'd you end up in a situation where someone would shoot at you?' They were all looking at him faces portraying their intense curiosity. He took a sip of his juice to moisten his suddenly dry throat. Do I tell them about Alex? I mean I know I signed the Official Secrets Act and all but I guess if it doesn't compromise national security then it's ok. And they sort of already know about Alex…

'Well?' Wolf barked out impatiently. Wolf had many qualities of a great leader but patience was not one of them. Ben took another sip of juice to get rid of his once again dry throat (but also partially to irritate Wolf).

'I got shot by one of the leaders of a terrorist organisation tryin' to protect Alex.' _There_, he thought. _I've managed to tell them about Alex and not compromise British security by telling them exactly what leader of what organisation I was shot by._

All he received were blank stares before Wolf started slowly, 'I get the terrorist leader shooting you bit, but who's Alex?' Ben slapped his forehead at his own stupidity in a very Homer Simpson-like moment.

'Sorry. Of course you guys wouldn't know what his real name is. Alex, the boy I was trying to protect, is Cub.' Momentary silence greeted his words before a rapid flow of jumbled questions.

'Cub? Why were you protecting Cub? Where'd you meet him?'

'How'd Cub get involved with terrorists? Why aren't you telling us? Come on Ben-'

'_Maybe_ if you lot would shut up then Ben here could tell us,' Wolf growled, patience worn thin.

'Thank you Wolf, you beat me to it,' Ben answered wryly. Wolf acknowledged him with a slight nod before impatiently asking, 'well?'

_Where to start?_

'About a month back I was assigned another mission with MI6. It was in Bangkok and it was a pretty important mission-I mean Mrs. Jones was there personally.' There were a few raised eyebrows of wonder at this.

'I was sent undercover to investigate this group. That's all I can tell you about the actual details of my mission but what you need to know is about Alex. Or Cub. Whichever. I met him there by chance. He was doing another mission but this time for ASIS.'

'ASIS?' Eagle asked face scrunched up in confusion.

'Australian Secret Intelligence Service. You should know that. God and you call yourself SAS?' Snake rolled his eyes at him.

'Anyways,' Wolf interjected loudly shooting Eagle a death glare just as he was about to retaliate. Most grown men would have wet themselves at the look Wolf shot him, but Eagle was used to it…he shuddered and shut up. Ben gave a small smile at his Units' antics but it was wiped of his face when he remembered what they were originally talking about.

'Yeah he was working for ASIS. From the little I could glean from Mrs. Jones, it seemed that that mission in France and then with ASIS, weren't the only ones. After a bit of persuasion she let up that he'd been on 7 missions all in the past year and that-'

'Hold on,' interjected Wolf.' '7 missions? In less than a year? What are his parents thinking? You don't even do that many. But I guess they can't all be as dangerous as that one in France, right?' He said uneasily. 'And what do you mean 'a bit of persuasion? How do you persuade the Deputy Head of SO to give you information?' Wolf was babbling. He knew he was and it was something that was completely out of character for him, but he couldn't help it. He needed to satisfy his mind with reassuring answers that things were much better for the kid than they seemed at the moment. Because if they weren't…then he couldn't justify his actions in Brecon Beacons. He would have helped make the child's (and that's what he was) life that much more difficult.

His Unit recognized his distress and the reasons behind it, and Ben wished that what he would tell them would offer them the reassurance they wanted, but knowing it wouldn't.

'I saw Alex in a serious life or death Thai Kick-boxing fight and he was…good. I wanted to know exactly what a 14 year old was doing mixed up with MI6. I pressurized her in to telling me about him thinking I'd get nowhere but still, I had to try. I was surprised when she actually looked kind of guilty and told me that Alex worked for them. That he was one of their highest ranking agents and that he was invaluable to MI6. And that unfortunately…all his missions ended up being highly dangerous and life-threatening. Hell, I can testify to that.' Ben looked miserable his mind flashing with memories of Alex on their mission. The others just sat, shell shocked.

Snake slowly found his voice again. 'That doesn't explain about his parents and what they were thinking of sending him to MI6-hell what were MI6 thinking using a child like that?'

Ben laughed but it lacked humour and warmth and the others shuddered at the desperation that shone from it.

'That's the thing. His parents are dead. His Uncle,-who was his guardian-is dead. He has no one. They practically own him,' Ben said wide eyed, for the realization had just hit him. Wolf felt his insides twist. He had been so wrong about the kid at Brecon Beacons. He wasn't sent there to humiliate his unit or whatever-he'd been sent there to actually learn to do what they do-only on his own. _On his own. _The child didn't even have a family he could turn to.

Ben was trying to compose his face in to a calm expression but they could all see the anger bubbling beneath the surface. 'Alex is good at what he does,' he began his voice low and desperately trying to contain his rage. 'He is extremely talented at what he does. I know for a fact that all of us would crumble under the weight of what he's dealing with and we're SAS whereas he's only 14.' His voice raised slightly on the last word, unable to contain his fury.

'BUT THAT IS NO EXCUSE TO USE HIM AS IF HE WERE SOME KIND OF WEAPON! ' Ben was on his feet now gripped with an angered passion that he'd kept bottled inside him ever since Australia. His unit flinched and started morosely at him. 'THEY SENT HIM TO US IN BRECON BEACONS FOR TRAINING-TRAINING TO BECOME A SPY. WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE USE A CHILD THAT WAY? HE'S A CHILD!' He exclaimed exasperated. His anger suddenly evaporated and he fell back in to his chair.

'A child,' he repeated softly. 'And an orphaned child at that. He has no one. We-even if we didn't have family we'd still have each other. People we know that have our backs and would die for us. He has no one. At one point he'd been chased down a river my machine guns and it took me forever to find him. And when I did, 'he swallowed, 'he just looked so small. So young and so fragile.' Eagle looked down eyes serious.

'We have each other,' he said. 'And he has no one.'

'No.' interjected Ben. 'He has me. I took bullets for him and I'd do it again, the same way I would for you. I want to try to be there for him and help him any way I can. He grew on me on our mission together and to a certain extent I see him as a little brother.' His eyes grew warm and determined.

'I will be there for him,' he said to himself.

'And so will I,' Wolf answered firmly.

'As will I,' Snake seconded.

'And I,' Eagle added determinedly. Ben looked at them for a minute shocked. Then he smiled gratefully, wishing that he could somehow telekinetically communicate with Alex, letting him know that he now had four people who were willing to protect him and give their lives for him if need be.

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Thanks for taking the time to read this!

Do tell what you think! I'm trying to convince my parents that this is revision for my English Language GCSE so reviews would be most welcome.

DCD xxx


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